Lighting maker Paul C. Buff has started a pre-order list for the innovative Einstein 640. The 640ws monolight - the company's most ambitious and full featured studio flash to date - is expected to ship at the end of January 2010 for US$439.95. Pre-ordering is open to residents of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It's possible to pre-order the US$29.95 CSXCV transceiver module for the Einstein as well.

Those who pre-ordered an AlienBees AB MAX - a Paul C. Buff monolight that was announced in 2009 but ultimately never shipped - will receive a 10% discount on their Einstein purchase, as well as a priority position in the Einstein order queue.

Colour temperature consistency and crisp freezing of motion are the signature features promised for the Einstein 640, which was unveiled in October 2009. Other features include worldwide power compatibility, full power recycle time of 1.7 seconds, 2.5-640ws range in 1/10-stop increments, digital controls and compatibility with the Cyber Commander wireless control system (this requires the optional CSXCV transceiver). More information is in a previous article.